Peter Dutton confesses his family would ‘rather be watching MAFS’ than his Federal Budget speech

Peter Dutton attempted to lighten the mood during his Federal Budget reply on Thursday by making a jibe about MAFS.

While taking a swipe at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during his Federal Budget reply on Thursday evening, Peter Dutton managed to find the time to poke fun at his family’s obsession with Married At First Sight.

The leader of the opposition delivered his verdict on Mr Albanese’s Federal Budget in a determined speech before giving a shout out to his wife and three children.

However, he was quick to acknowledge that the likelihood of them watching was likely pretty low, especially if MAFS was airing at the same time.

Mr Dutton and his wife, Kirilly tied the knot in 2003, and share three children together, Tom, Harry and Rebecca.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton delivers his budget reply speech at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I want to give a shout out to my wife tonight, who has just had surgery on her wrist and is at home watching with Rebecca, Harry and Tom, unless MAFS clashes with this broadcast,” he teased as his colleagues broke into laughter.

However, it seems that unlike his family Mr Dutton isn’t a fan of MAFS, because if he was he would know the controversial series only airs Sunday to Wednesday nights. Awkward.

Mr Dutton’s remark came after some Sky News viewers were left shocked when tuning into the Federal Budget coverage on Tuesday only to see staff appearing to catch up on MAFS in the background.

Sky journalist Sharri Markson shared behind-the-scenes snaps from the Sky News Canberrastudio, unaware that a scene from the hit reality series was playing on a large screen behind her.

“Is that MAFS in the background,” commented one viewer, with another adding: “Not the intern in the back watching MAFS”.

Dutton remarked that his family would rather be watching MAFS. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Dutton outlined his alternative vision as PM in a major speech to parliament, billing the election as a “sliding door moment” for Australia.

Slashing the migration program is the centrepiece of Mr Dutton’s new plan to tackle housing concerns – along with allowing workers to cash in their superannuation for a $50,000 deposit top-up.

“I don’t want young Australians locked out of the property market – or having to rely on the bank of mum and dad,” Mr Dutton said.

“I want to see fewer Australians homeless and more Australians in homes.

“Under Labor, migration will continue to put pressure on housing, infrastructure, and services.

“But under the Coalition, we will cut the migration intake to free up housing and restore the great Australian dream of home ownership.

“We will cut the permanent migration program by 25 per cent. We will ban foreign investors and temporary residents from purchasing existing Australian homes for two years.

“We will set stricter caps on foreign students to relieve stress on rental markets.”

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Originally published as Peter Dutton confesses his family would ‘rather be watching MAFS’ than his Federal Budget speech